Genesis  34:1-31

A Satanic attack on the childlike (immature) nation of Israel

1.     The lesson for Dinah

2.     The lesson for Jacob

3.     An example for us

 

God allowed Dinah this sin in order to teach her some lessons.

God allowed this sin so Jacob would learn his troubles weren't over just because he was in Canaan.

 

A personal note:  My analysis of this chapter runs contrary to the analysis of the following commentaries: John Gill, Matthew Henry, and Barnes Notes.  I believe these men are wrong when they condemn Israel for killing Shechem, Hamor and the other Shechemites.  My question to them is: (1) If the sons of Jacob are wrong in what they do, what should they do?  (2) God says the man that rapes a woman should be killed.  If this is not rape, it would be considered child abuse, as Dinah could be no older than 15 years of age.  What is a family to do?

I sincerely believe the sons of Jacob are right in killing these people, (because they are acting as a nation, not as individuals {except perhaps for Simeon and Levi}), but I believe they are wrong to not tell Shechem that he has committed a sin before God and men.  See my discussion of "deceitfully" in verse 13.

For a fuller discussion of Simeon and Levi, see my comments on verse 30 and 31.

 

I.    Another point is that Dinah stayed in the house of the unbelievers until they were dead.  It is very possible she didn't know what her brothers had in mind.  I have an idea that if she had known that her brothers was going to kill her betrothed she would have taken steps to hinder the plan.

 

II.   I think this story is included here to show the importance of marrying the correct person.  The Bible doesn't say anything was wrong with Shechem, the son of Hamor, as far as his person is concerned, he is simply of the wrong family.  There is nothing wrong with many people in the world today, but if they aren't saved Baptists, saved Baptists aren't supposed to marry them.  There is a great danger of going away from the principles of God.  This is what caused the flood in Noah's day.

 

III. If Satan can't destroy the nation of Israel by out and out attack, he will try to destroy it through the children.  If Satan can't destroy us by out and out attack, he will try to destroy us through our children.  If Satan can't destroy our church by out and out attack, he will try to destroy the local churches through our children.

 

IV. Satan wants us to compromise the truth of God by giving in to our children, by not expecting them to hold to the standards of God's Word.  After all, it's just too hard on them to be so strait-laced!  Satan has used this ploy a lot of times.

 

Verse 1  And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

I.    A point to consider in this chapter is that Dinah willingly left home to check out the daughters of the land.

A.  This is clear contrast to the command God will give to Israel in Deut. 7:1-6.

1.   I know that Dinah nor Jacob had this command given to them in this same manner (Deuteronomy is written by Moses after the book of Genesis: Jacob and Dinah are both dead when Deuteronomy is written), but there is no doubt in my mind they both knew what Dinah was doing was wrong.

2.   Abraham and Sarah sent a servant back to Pandanaram, to the city of Nahor, probably located south east of Haran, to get a wife for Isaac.

3.   Isaac and Rebekah sent Jacob away to Pandanaram to get himself a wife.

4.   They knew the spirit of God's command even if they didn't have the letter of the law given to them yet.

B.   Dinah went without the express consent of her parents.

1.   There is no record that Jacob or Leah knew she was gone.

2.   It is always good to get parents permission before doing some things.

 

II.   Dinah freely and willingly went out to see the daughters of the land.

A.  Dinah was probably in her early to mid teens (about 14 to 18 years of age).

B.   It is very interesting that she went to see the daughters of the land, yet wound up seeing the sons of the land!

1.   It seems to me that she was using the excuse of seeing the daughters of the land as a means of checking out the male population.

C.   What did she go to see?

1.   She was the only daughter in all these boys, so naturally wanted to find out how the other girls were dressing, acting, and entertaining.

2.   This is a natural curiosity, and is expressly commanded against in Deut. 7:1-6.

3.   We would be much better off to have Christian friends, while inviting people of the world to see our good works and give glory to God.

 

III. Another point concerning the fact that Dinah was attempting to mingle with the people of the land instead of being separate from them:

A.  Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his wives, all lived in the land of Canaan, yet remained separate from the unbelievers living there.

B.   This is their history.

C.   Surely they all understood they were the chosen of God and should remain separate, not because they were better than others, but because God commanded it of them.

 

 

Verse 2  And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. {3} And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.

I.    Note the order of events:

A.  He saw her.  There is no record that he spoke to her, but it seems probable that they did talk.

B.   He took her.

1.   The word took" indicates that Shechem seized her with the intend of possessing her.

2.   It was almost like he was treating her as a captive.

3.   The events of this chapter indicate that she went to him willingly, that he didn't force her to have sex with him.

4.   It may have been that she simply went to far to want to back off.

C.   He lay with her.  He had sex with her.

D.  He defiled her.  She is now defiled.

1.   The word "defiled" means to be brought down low, to be afflicted, or to mishandle.  See the word "defiled" in verse 5.

2.   The world believes illicit sex sets one free to explore their own feelings, but in fact, it humbles them, bringing them down to the place where they find it impossible to deal with their own feelings.

3.   The world puts sex before love.

4.   God puts love first, then marriage, then sex.

E.   God says sex is how two people express their love toward each other.  The world states that sex is how two people fall in love.

 

II.   Shechem's soul clave unto Dinah.

A.  His "love" for her blossomed, and he tried to comfort her in what had happened.

B.   If his love had been pure, without pre-martial sex, there would have been no need to comfort her about what had happened.

C.   It is very possible that Dinah got caught up in passion and went farther than she intended.

D.  I believe Shechem did what he wanted to do.

 

III. Shechem was not like Amnon.

A.  II Sam. 13:15 - When he "loved" Tammar, his lust caused him to rape her,

B.   Then he hated her with a hatred that was greater than any hatred.

 

III. It is interesting to note that heathens look at love differently from the children of God.  Shechem knew pre-martial sex was wrong, but he didn't think about it the same way God did.  God's children believe pre-martial sex is defilement if they are in tune with God's will.

A.  The other night I was watching T. V. and two women were discussing how they fell in love with their boyfriends.

1.   One woman said they hadn't had sex, but she knew she loved her boyfriend and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

2.   The other woman said she didn't know if she could "fall in love" without sex.

3.   She guessed she let her "feelings" tell her if she was in love or not.

B.   The truth is that pre-martial sex makes it much more difficult to know the other person.

1.   It is possible to know someone sexually without really knowing them.

2.   The Bible makes a point of saying that Adam knew his wife and she conceived.

3.   This is not an accident.

4.   Adam already knew his wife (what she thought and how she reacted to certain stimuli) but he didn't know her sexually.

 

Verse 4  And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

I.    He might have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had tried to marry her before he defiled her.

A.  He would found out he wasn't going to marry her.

B.   He would not have had to die for his "love".

 

II.   I wonder if Shechem believes marrying Dinah will make everything all right?

A.  There are a lot of people today who believe that if two people have sex before marriage, that getting married makes everything all right.

1.   This is a devil's lie.

2.   I Cor. 7:36 doesn't mean that if a couple have sex and she gets pregnant that marriage wipes away that sin.  Nothing can wipe away sin but the blood of Christ, and that doesn't wipe away our memory of that sin.

3.   If you have pre-martial sex, you will never forget it.

4.   You never forget that things you do that you know is wrong.

B.   Don't commit wicked acts, and you won't have to try to forget them.

 

III. Shechem spoke to his father.

A.  I don't know if Hamor knew they were sexually active, but I believe he did.

1.   After all, Jacob found out.

B.   Shechem is going the proper route to get a wife.

1.   He doesn't go directly to Jacob, which probably saved his life, but to his father.

2.   Hamor then went to Jacob, asking for Dinah's hand in marriage.

C.   Young people ought to understand that it is always good to include their parents in their plans, whether marriage plans or not.

 

IV. Where was she to get a husband?

A.  They were to marry their own brother, or half brother.

1.   This was what happened to Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah; and Jacob and his wives.

2.   They all married in the family.

3.   This is what Dinah is supposed to do.

B.   There are some who will rebel at this thought, but they ought to remember that this often happened in the founding of this country.  (I'm talking about 50 or 60 years ago.)

1.   I have pastored in Louisiana and in some of the smaller communities, there would be only three or four families.

2.   People didn't travel very far in those days because it took so long to get anywhere.

3.   If young people was going to marry they would have to marry those that lived in their own community or move away.

4.   If they married in their own community, they would marry those near relatives.

5.   There are places in the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee that have so intermarried their families are full of retarded and deformed people.

 

V.  Where did her brothers get their wives?

A.  Right off hand, I don't remember any references as to where these wives came from.

B.   This is a good point to study.

C.   Look up the story of how 11 of the tribes of Israel conspired against the other 1 tribe and killed most of the men and women.  There was a very small to no chance that the tribe would be able to re-establish themselves without outside help.  The 11 tribes got together and took over a pagan nation, killing all the males and all the females that had been with a man in sexual intercourse, saving only the virgin girls alive.  These virgin girls were given to the men of the near extinct tribe so they could re-establish themselves.

 

Verse 5  And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

I.    Jacob heard that Dinah was defiled.

A.  The word defiled in this verse is different from verse 2

1.   Defiled in verse 2 means to be brought low.

2.   Defiled in verse 5 means to become unclean, sexually, religiously, ceremonially.

B.   Note the difference between what the world thinks of pre-martial sex and what God thinks.

1.   The world thinks it brings a person low, but the sin is not so bad.

2.   God knows that pre-martial sex makes a person unclean.

a)   It changes the way a person thinks.

b)   It changes their attitude toward sin.

c)   There is a great likely hood that sin will be accepted because we all want to accept what we do as okay.

 

II.   I can only assume that Hamor told Jacob about Shechem and Dinah when he came to him asking permission for Dinah and Shechem to marry.  It may have been that Jacob objected to their marriage, then Hamor told Jacob that they had to get married because they had already been together.

A.  Another assumption is that Dinah came home and her mother or some of the other women could see that something was wrong and asked her what was the matter.  Dinah might have been the one that let the story out.

B.   Anything we could say about how Jacob found out seems to be pure conjecture at this point.

 

III. Jacob held his peace until his sons were come.

A.  This is not wrong.

B.   Jacob is doing good by withholding judgment until he receives input from his grown sons.  It is not wrong for fathers to seek advice from their grown sons.  They might see something the father didn't see.

C.   Jacob believes the decision about what to do is up to him.

1.   In truth, this is so.

2.   But Jacob's sons take matters into their own hands, without consulting their father.

 

Verse 6  And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

I.    I would hate to have this job.

A.  It would be very hard to tell a girls father that my son had been with her sexually.

B.   It would not only be embarrassing, but humiliating.

1.   I would be embarrassing to have to admit that my son had done such a wicked thing and despiteful thing.

2.   It would be humiliating to have to face up to the wickedness of my son.

 

II.   It is very good that even heathens believe they ought to have the consent of their parents before they marry.

A.  Even heathen parents believe they ought to have the consent of the other parents before a marriage can be rightly consummated.

B.   There are those that believe the sex act consummates the marriage, but in this passage, even the heathens believe there ought to be an official ceremony.

 

III. It is not mentioned in this verse, but according to verse 11, Shechem accompanied his father to talk to Jacob and his sons.

A.  He leaves the talking to both fathers, because he probably figures he has already done enough.

 

IV. There is no mention that anybody asks Dinah what she wanted.

A.  There is a time to ask single women whether they want to marry this man or that man.

1.   Rebekah's father asked her if she wanted to go to Canaan and marry Isaac.

2.   She readily consented.

B.   Dinah's opinion is no asked, nor considered.

1.   She stays in the house of Shechem until he is dead.

2.   I think Jacob allows this to stop any military advances toward his family.

3.   I believe Dinah gave up her right to her opinion.

 

Verse 7  And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard [it]: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter; which thing ought not to be done.

I.    Jacob has contacted his sons because they ought to know the bad news.

 

II.   They are of age to take care of the flocks without Jacob's constant oversight, therefore, they ought to be of age to make decisions about this affair.

A.  The oldest son is probably between 20 and 28 years old.

B.   There is no record that any of them are married yet, but there is a possibility some of the sons are.

 

Verse 8-10,  And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife. {9}  And make ye marriages with us, [and] give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. {10} And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

I.    What Hamor is talking about is the merging together of heathens and believers.  This is what the flood in Noah's day was all about.

A.  There is no mention of any wrong by Hamor, or Shechem.

1.   They are ready to make some sort of "adjustment" so a regular (normal) marriage can occur.

2.   It seems they believe marriage will make the wrong a right thing.

B.   They seem to believe it is a privilege to let Jacob's family marry into their clan.

1.   This is a real joke to the sons of Jacob.

2.   There will not be a reconciliation of their injury at Shechem's amorous advances toward their sister

 

II.   It was against the commands of God for any Israelite to marry a heathen.

A.  Gen. 24:3 - Abraham's made his servant promise not to take a wife for Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites.

B.   Gen. 28:1 - Isaac also made Jacob promise that he wouldn't take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

C.   There is no way that Jacob is going to consent to Dinah marrying Shechem, nor his sons to marry any of their daughters.

 

Verse 11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. {12} Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife.

Shechem seems to be talking about a financial settlement.

If he isn't talking finances, he is talking about doing anything they want to settle this difficulty.

It seems to me Shechem is a spoiled child, who does what he wants to, then tries to pay his way out of it.

Proverbs 6:32-35 - The person who commits adultery with his neighbors wife lacks understanding.  Even though he gives many gives, the husband won't ever be satisfied. 

I believe this verse can also apply to other family members who know their loved one has been raped.

 

Verse 13-17,  And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister: {14} And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a reproach unto us: {15} But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we [be], that every male of you be circumcised; {16} Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. {17} But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

I.    What does it mean to speak deceitfully?

A.  The sons of Jacob never mentioned that defiling their sister was a sin before God!

1.   If the sons of Jacob had spoken honestly, they would have told Shechem that there is a difference between how they looked at the defilement of their sister and the way Shechem looked at it.

2.   Note the difference in the word "defilement" in verse 2 and verse 5.

B.   How could Shechem repent if he didn't know there was an offense?

1.   He couldn't repent to Dinah, the sons of Jacob, or Jacob.

2.   He couldn't repent to God because he didn't know God was offended.

3.   I believe it is very important for this side note:

a)   Lost people are going to go to hell.

b)   Many of those lost people may not know why they are going to hell, because saved people haven't told them about their lost condition and how Jesus saves.

c)   In this case, God is right to send them to hell, but also right when the blood of these lost people are on the hand of the saved that didn't talk to them about salvation.

4.   In the situation in this chapter, all of the sons of Jacob are right in their actions, but they are wrong in their attitude.

C.   Later, when Simeon and Levi go to Shechem and kill all the males that are circumcised, the townspeople wouldn't understand.

1.   The townspeople would see only the things that are done openly, not those things that are done secretly.

2.   The townspeople wouldn't understand why Simeon, Levi, and the other sons of Jacob came so suddenly upon Shechem and the other men and killed them.

 

II.   Speaking deceitfully.

A.  There is no doubt in my mind that Jacob's sons intended to fool the Canaanites and get even.

1.   Most of the commentaries I have read say that the sons are wrong in their words and actions.

2.   Whether God holds them guilty or not, I don't know.

3.   God does say that the man that rapes a woman ought to be killed.

4.   I believe a women who rapes a man ought to be killed also.

B.   I suppose these commentaries look at the word "deceitfully" and say that is the same as lying.

1.   There is no doubt in my mind that the sons of Jacob intend to mislead Shechem.

2.   Shechem has mislead their sister, playing her for a harlot.

3.   Some might believe it is better to turn the other cheek, letting the wicked keep on stomping on us.

a)   As an individual, that is what we are supposed to do.

b)   As a nation, that is not what we are supposed to do.

c)   If our nations leaders don't stand up for Godly principles, who will?

 

III. The sons of Jacob evidently had their plan completely formulated when they made this statement.

A.  The word "defiled" is the same word as in verse 5, not the word used in verse 2.

B.   Circumcision is a religious act.

1.   The Canaanites will willingly accept this part of religion.

2.   They would not accept the spiritual parts of the covenant, nor is it offered to them.

C.   If all the males of the city don't submit to circumcision, Jacob and his sons will leave.

1.   Jacob's sons are banking on the love (lust) of Shechem to get him to encourage all the city dwellers to be circumcised.

2.   That worked.

 

IV. The males are asked to be circumcised.

A.  The females are not required to be circumcised.

1.   Today, in some Canaanite countries, the females are forced to be circumcised.

2.   This is a very unhealthy procedure for them.

B.   The sons of Jacob intend to take these wives unto themselves.

 

V.  Consent to give their daughters to the Canaanites.

A.  Dinah is the only daughter at this point.

B.   There is probably other daughters born at this point that the Bible doesn't record.

 

VI. I do not believe the nation of Israel will be gone.

A.  I believe they will fight Hamor and his sons and try to kill them.

B.   Jacob's sons only use this ploy to encourage Shechem into their trap so they can kill them when they have advantage of them.

1.   This is nothing more than anybody would do to an enemy.

2.   These people of Shechem are treated as an enemy by Jacob's sons.

 

Verse 18  And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son.

I.    They don't seem to be disturbed at all by circumcision.

A.  They don't see circumcision as relating to the promise of God to the nation of Israel.

1.   The promises of God is to the nation of Israel, therefore circumcision is the sign of believing those promises.

2.   These unbelievers don't believe the promises of God, not to individuals nor to nations.

3.   Hamor and Shechem don't know what the sons of Jacob are asking them to do.

4.   They will die.

B.   They see it only as a odd tribal ritual.

1.   They will gladly perform this ritual, but it doesn't mean anything spiritual to them.

2.   They would just as gladly perform any other ritual, just as long as Shechem gets to marry Dinah.

 

Verse 19  And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he [was] more honourable than all the house of his father.

I.    This verse has nothing at all to do with the enjoyment of sex as some relate.

A.  It has to do with the fact that Shechem has delight (not only sexually, but also he took great pleasure in her company).

B.   Shechem believes he is in love with Dinah, therefore will do anything for her.

 

II.   Shechem has more honor than all the house of his father.

A.  This means he was a very important person in his fathers house.

B.   His influence on others goes very far.

1.   He will be able to convince the other male inhabitants of the city to be circumcised.

2.   He who was instrumental in the rape of Dinah will also be instrumental in the death of the males of the city.

 

Verse 20-24,   And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying, {21} These men [are] peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, [it is] large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. {22} Only herein will the men consent unto us for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they [are] circumcised. {23} [Shall] not their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs [be] ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. {24} And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

I.    It is a wonder to me that the men of the city listened.

A.  I don't believe they would have listened if it hadn't been for the exalted position of Shechem and his father.

1.   I believe it is important to note the "arrangement" of Shechem's presentation of his case.

2.   He presents Israel as a peaceable people.  (He doesn't know them very well, does he?)

3.   There is an opportunity for commerce (trade) with them.

4.   There is enough land for them and us.

5.   They are good people to intermarry with.

6.   Now: Shechem presents the only condition of this relationship - all the men must be circumcised.

7.   His final argument is that all Jacob's wealth will to be ours.

8.   The only thing we have to do to get all they have is to be circumcised.

B.   They listened even though there were no more daughters.

1.   They might have been other young girls in Jacob's family, but I doubt it.

2.   These would have been Jacob's grand daughters.

3.   It is very obvious to me that this whole thing is to the sole advantage of Shechem and his family.

C.   They listen because there is a chance they will get the material possessions of Jacob.

1.   This is the argument that convinces the Canaanites to be circumcised.

2.   Some people will do anything to get wealth!

D.  These men will give their daughters to wealthy people so they will be well cared for.

 

Verse 25-29, And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. {26} And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. {27} The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. {28} They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which [was] in the city, and that which [was] in the field, {29} And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that [was] in the house.

I.    It is evident that the men were all circumcised on the same day, therefore they were all sore on the same day.

 

II.   There were only two of the sons of Jacob actively engaged in the killing.

A.  I guess somebody had to stay home and take care of the flocks.

B.   They also had to keep Jacob busy so he wouldn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

C.   Simeon and Levi were the full blood brother of Dinah.

1.   Leah was the mother of all these children.

2.   It is important to note that all the brothers of Dinah weren't in on this plan.

3.   Gen. 49:5 - When Jacob comes to the time of death, he refers to the anger of Simeon and Levi, giving them a curse for their violent actions.

4.   It is very likely that Jacob ought to curse their anger and violence, but not their sense of justice.

D.  For a fuller discussion of the results of this evil action of Simeon and Levi, see my notes on Gen. 49:5-7.

 

 

III. Dinah evidently went into Shechem's house on the day of the defilement and stayed all the time until Shechem was killed.

A.  Jacob's sons wouldn't have to worry about Dinah being defiled any more because Shechem would be circumcised and wouldn't be able perform sexually.

B.   Dinah being gone from the house of Leah would probably make these brothers more angry.

 

IV. Why would the sons of Jacob kill all the males of the entire city when only Shechem had committed the crime?

A.  Does God judge a nation for the sins of a few?

1.   God will look upon the sins of a few and hold the entire nation accountable, especially if those few are leaders.

2.   God will also look upon the righteousness of a few and release the entire nation from punishment.

a)   Gen. 19 - The story of Lot.

b)   II Chronicles 7:14 - If God's people would only pray and repent, God will spare the entire nation.

c)   Matt 5:13 - Saved Baptist people are the salt of the earth.  We are the one that keep God from destroying the world right now.

d)   I Peter 3:9 - God is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

 

V.  These Canaanites had determined to intermarry with Israel, thus effectively and eventually taking their material wealth.

A.  This is all turned around now, and their deceitfulness betrays them.

1.   They not only lose their lives, they also lose their wives, children, and material wealth.

2.   Proverbs 28:10, Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.

 

VI. The Bible doesn't say what Jacob did with these women, children and cattle.

A.  Some say he turned them all loose, to go their own way.

1.   This seems unlike Jacob, who would want to take care of them.

2.   If they did keep them, this would likely be the continuation of his troubles.

B.   This could be the reason he told his people to put away the strange gods from them when they went to Bethel.

1.   See Gen. 35:2.

2.   There is no doubt this also speaks of the strange Gods of Rachel.

 

Verse 30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I [being] few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

I.    Jacob is rightly afraid of reprisal from the inhabitants of the land.

A.  Jacob, like us, ought to remember that God is with those that do right.

B.   It is very interesting that Jacob doesn't reprove his sons for killing the Canaanites.

1.   I believe Jacob believes killing these heathens is the right thing to do.

2.   I know that most commentaries disagree with me, but I believe Jacob will rest easy, knowing that the rape of his daughter is judged.

C.   Genesis 49:5-7 - On his deathbed, Jacob condemns the anger and wrath of Simeon and Levi.

1.   Their wrath and anger was excessive.

2.   Jacob doesn't say what they did was wrong, only that they were excessive in it.

3.   For a fuller discussion of what happened to the tribes of Simeon and Levi, see my notes on Genesis 49:5-7.

 

II.   The lesson Jacob learned on the way home from Pandanaram is soon forgotten.

A.  God has spared him from Laban's wrath, even appearing to him, telling him not to speak good or evil of Jacob.

B.   God has spared him from Esau's wrath, even making Esau to accept "second place" and allowing Jacob to receive the greatest blessings of God.

C.   Now Jacob is having trouble believing God will be with him in this battle.

1.   I don't want to belittle Jacob very much, because I have this same problem.

2.   It would be extremely good if we would all remember that the God of the mountain is still God in the valley.

3.   May God help us to take the victories He gives us and believe He can give us the victory in our present distress.

 

III. It may be that the inhabitants of Canaan will be so afraid of Israel they won't try to betray them at all.

A.  The inhabitants would make sure they treat Israel right so they wouldn't face their wrath.

B.   It would be a good thing today if God's churches acted swiftly and surely against those that commit open sin.

1.   There will be those that say we will turn sinners against us.

2.   That may be true in some cases, but if it is done properly, all sinners will see and understand that God is the one carrying out His vengeance.  It is not Christians that is doing it.

3.   Acts 5:1-11 - When Ananias and Sapphira lied to God and died, it didn't cause people to run out of the church, rather it caused some not to join after they had been saved, but the Bible states that great power and signs were wrought by the apostles and many people were saved.

4.   Maybe if the churches would stand for the truth (and stand God's way, not stand in the flesh) much good would come.

 

IV. This also sets the stage for Jacob believing his son Joseph is killed in chapter 37.

A.  Gen. 37:12-13 - Jacob sends Joseph out to see how his sons are doing when they are feeding the flock in Shechem.

1.   The sons of Jacob are feeding the flocks at Shechem because Jacob owns land there, Gen. 33:18-20.

2.   When Joseph is seen wandering in the field, a man remembers the brothers and sends Joseph on to Dothan to find them.

3.   These people don't remember the transgression of Simeon and Levi, and offer help when it is needed.

B.   What is important is that Jacob remembers.

1.   When word comes from his sons that they have found Joseph's many colored coat, he immediately believes the Canaanites have killed Joseph in retaliation for the death of the Shechemites.

2.   When we believe a certain thing, it is very difficult to get it out of our minds.

3.   It doesn't make any difference whether it is true or not, just as long as we believe it is true.

 

Verse 31  And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

I.    The sons believe they have done what was right.

A.  I also believe they have done what was right.

1.   They are the nation of Israel, and have the authority from God to punish those that sin against them.

2.   They have done this as a family (a nation), not as individuals.

B.   If the sons of Jacob had not done this, what would Jacob have done?

1.   Would he have let his sons and daughters marry these heathens?

2.   Would he have slipped into Shechem and silently stole away his own daughter, then ran away so she wouldn't marry the man?

C.   It is probably wrong for the brothers to answer their father with this attitude.

1.   It is right to honor our parents.

2.   It is very likely Simeon and Levi have failed to honor their parents at this point.

 

II.   Note: pre-martial sex is treating a girl like she is a harlot.

A.  Shechem wanted to marry Dinah in payment for sex.

B.   People are doing this all the time today, and thinking nothing of it.

C.   I believe God still believes it is wrong.

 

III. Israel punished those that defiled Dinah swiftly and surely.

A.  They are still doing that today.

B.         Any terrorists group that injure or kill an Israelite citizen will face swift and sure retaliation.